Life After the War
by AzkedelliaTheDemon
Summary: When Harry finds himself unsatisfied with his long-term relationship with Ginny, he finds comfort in an unlikely place. Also, he meets up with old Hogwarts classmate, Draco Malfoy. WARNING: MM SLASH


11

Harry and Ginny were snuggled together on a sofa in their flat, watching the flames dance behind the grate in the fireplace. The remnants of their meal sat on the side tables and the wine glasses stood empty next to a half full bottle. Ginny was reminiscing on their time spent in Hogwarts, from which she had graduated from four years ago. The rain pattered away against the window in the background, as it always seemed to be nowadays. Spring was just around the corner, and the air still had a chill edge to it. Ginny looked over at the man who held her now, and remembered when she was just getting ready to start her first year, and he had shown up at the house with her brothers. God, she had been so embarrassed and nervous around him. Noticing that Harry was lost in thought as well, she stroked back that lock of hair that always fell into his eyes and asked,

"Sweetie, are you all right?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm okay."

"You seem worlds away right now."

"I'm fine."

And with a look of indifference, Harry let go of Ginny, picked up his wand, magicked the dishes into the kitchen and and got up off the sofa.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed, I'm tired."

~Again?~ Ginny thought. ~No kissing? Or anything? Just going to bed without doing anything passionate with your girlfriend as you have for the last few months.~

"I'll be there in a bit, warm it up for me?"

"Ok, I will."

~Bloody hell! What is wrong with him? We used to do something sexual at least every night, if not multiple times a day. Well, we are definitely going to tonight, there's only so much a girl can take. I'll do anything, even if I don't like it.~

Filled with determination, Ginny grabbed her wand, muttered the trigger spell to turn off all the lights and activate the protective magic set on the flat. On her way to the bedroom, she did a flourish with her wand, which stripped all of her clothes off and made every part of her fresh smelling.

As she crawled into the bed, she slid up next to Harry and as usual, he cuddled up around her. When he didn't react to her nakedness, she turned over, flipped him onto his back, and straddled him. She bent down to kiss him, when he said his usual mantra,

"Not tonight, Ginny."

With a sudden flare of temper, Ginny's repressed emotions burst forth as she said with a snarl,

"And why the blazes not, Harry? We haven't had a fuck for over four months."

"I haven't felt like it, dear."

"Seriously? You've got to be bloody kidding me!" Ginny felt herself start screaming "Forgive me for wanting to have sex with my boyfriend! Have you lost the ability to get it up or something? Is there someone else? Who is she?"

Of course this made Harry get angry and start yelling as well,

"You think just because I haven't slept with you, that I must be sleeping with somebody else? Just because I don't feel like having sex all the bloody time?

"I know how fucking big your sexual appetite is, remember?"

Harry's face completely shuttered over, and his voice dropped to the calm level that meant he was done with the argument.

"You know what? I think I'm going to go stay the night at Ron's."

"WHAT? I confront you, and now you're going to run to my brother's house?"

He didn't bother answering; he just got out of bed and started throwing things into an overnight bag. Infuriated, Ginny snatched up her wand from the bedside table and pointed it at him with anger in her eyes.

"Are you going to hex me?" Harry asked calmly, not bothering to look up from what he was doing.

Ginny stopped and realized how irrational she was being. She promptly lost all of her determination, and threw herself into the bed, facing away from Harry. From the mass of fluffy blankets and red hair, he heard her speak, her voice muffled,

"Just go."

Without stopping to say anything else, he scooped up his bag and left, but before he closed the door, he heard her start sobbing.

A quick Apparation later, he was in front of Ron and Hermione's door, knocking and wishing he had called ahead. A distinctly ruffled Ron opened the door with a scowl, but his expression quickly changed to surprise at seeing Harry on his doorstep. Turning his head back into the depths of the house, he yelled,

"HERMIONE, HARRY'S HERE!" Turning back to Harry he said, "She'll be down in a moment. Come on in."

After Harry was comfortably settled on their couch and Ron had fetched some wine, Hermione came down the stairs. With one look at Harry, she told Ron,

"Maybe you should bring out the scotch, dear. Harry looks like he needs something stronger."

"Intuitive as ever, I see." laughed Harry, while hugging her. Ron left the room in search of the good scotch. After they all downed a generous helping of scotch, Hermione asked,

"Did you have a fight with Ginny?"

"Yeah, it was pretty bad."

"I'll have to go check on her later. What happened?"

"She came to bed and wanted to…you know. I didn't want to. She got angry, we fought, and I left."

"That seems a bit irrational."

"We haven't done anything for a few months."

"Seriously, Mate? You guys used to be like bunnies."

"Ron, go to the bedroom and get my wand."

Noticing that Hermione was politely trying to remove him from the conversation, Ron sheepishly went upstairs.

"Now, tell me why you guys aren't doing anything anymore?"

"I'm just not really attracted to the idea of doing that with her, haven't been for a while. Not to say that I don't love her and all, but she's just not doing it for me anymore."

"Is there someone else?"

"NO! God, I'm not like that."

"Just checking."

"Why would you even think that? I'm tired of women thinking that I'm just a scummy cheating bastard."

"Harry, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm just going to go. I need some time to myself."

"Harry, wait!"

He got up and left as quickly as possible, but he did hear Ron come down and ask Hermione what had gone wrong. ~What the hell is wrong with me? I'm just pissing off all the people I care about. ~Harry popped into his favorite bar, a little elegant pub with great food. He took a seat at the table in the darkest corner, and ordered a bottle of firewhisky and lost himself to his thoughts. ~Why couldn't I have just slept with Ginny and gone on with my life? I mean it's not my fault that she's just not doing it for me anymore. And my dreams have really been messing with me. I'm sure every guy dreams of other guys from time to time. I should just suck it up and ignore it. ~

By this time he had managed to get down a few good sized gulps of the whisky and the sweet tingling of a buzz was creeping through him.

"Well look at this, I haven't seen you in years!"

The smooth voice broke through Harry's contemplation, he looked up into a face he hadn't seen since the war with Voldemort. This face had grown up quite a bit, but it was definitely still Draco Malfoy.

"Oh hello, how have you been, Malfoy?"

"Pretty good, and yourself?"

"Been better, I suppose."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Harry was slightly surprised, but he knew that after what they had went through in the war together, and what they had expressed to each other after, that there was no bad blood between them.

"Sure, I was just thinking of ordering something to eat. The food is good here."

"Ooh, that sounds nice, I'm starving.

A waitress came by and asked if they were planning on eating, and they both ordered a full course meal.

As the waitress walked away, Draco turned towards Harry with a smile and asked,

"So are you still with Ginny Weasley?"

"I guess."

"Oh sorry. Let's go on to something else then, I heard you were in training to become and Auror. Is that true?"

"Yes I am, and in another couple years I'll be a full Auror. The training is pretty rigorous though, makes me feel like I'm still in school sometimes. What are you doing now?"

"I've actually been travelling abroad and figuring out new potions. And I wrote the book that the current Hogwarts Potions professor uses in his classes."

"Oh wow, that's great. Would you like a drink?" Harry gestured at him with the bottle, " I'm sorry, I forgot to ask if you wanted some earlier."

"No worries," Draco laughed, "And yes I would love some."

By the time Draco had downed a couple of swigs from the bottle, the waitress was on her way back to their table with their plates of food. After setting down a steaming steak in front of Harry, she leaned in towards Draco, flaunting her cleavage while giving him his plate. With a saucy wink, she asked him,

"Is there anything else I can get you, sir?"

"No thank you." was the reply without a glance to spare the girl of her efforts. Seeing that he wasn't interested the girl walked off to apply her charms to another poor sap. The alcohol that Harry had drank made him snigger at this exchange, and when Draco gave him a questioning look, he said

"She was all but throwing her tits into your face, and you completely ignored it."

"Oh…Harry, I guess nobody has told you. I don't swing that way."

Harry's eyes widened as he took another look at Draco, sweeping him from top to bottom. He took note of the pristine black suit, gray silk shirt, diamond cufflinks and the silver ring in his left ear. He also noticed the width of his broad shoulders and that he had filled out some, muscle-wise.

"I never knew that, well anyways, that changes the perspective a bit on my next question. I was going to ask if you had anybody special in your life."

"No, not right now. There was somebody several months ago, but it didn't work out for us."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It sucks to not be able to stay with someone."

"I don't mean to pry, but are you and Ginny having problems?"

"No it's ok, at least I know you won't tell her. I'm just not feeling the sexual side at all, and I don't know why. I'm just starting to realize there's been something I want that she just can't give me."

"Damn, so did you guys actually split up?"

"Not really, but I don't see how it will get better. And my dreams have been getting to me lately."

"Oh? What are they about?"

Realizing what he had just said, Harry blushed and looked down at the table in embarrassment.

"I don't know if I want to talk about that."

"I'm sorry, but I'm always willing to listen if you want to talk."

"It's nothing, I'm sure."

Having said that, Harry looked up into Draco's face and was confronted with a face that was a little flushed from alcohol, and showing concern for him. As he looked, Draco continued eating his pasta, elegantly transferring the food from his plate, through his succulent pink lips. ~What? Where did that come from?~ Blushing again, Harry looked into eyes that were questioning his stare.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

An awkward silence fell between the two men, who were both studiously ignoring each other. Draco found it hard not to react to the way Harry was staring at him. It had to be the amount of booze each of them had drank. ~Good God, Potter has definitely grown up into his manhood. Unngh, I need another drink.~ Taking a swig from the bottle, Draco took the opportunity to get a good look at Harry. Since he was focused on food at the moment, Draco had time for a longer inspection. ~He's let his hair grow out. It looks good like that, shoulder length ink strands that were just begging to have hands running through them. I should stop thinking about that. Oh God, he's looked up. Those eyes, they're so green. And his lips, Aaagh I wish he would stop looking at me like I'm something to eat. They both looked away, trying to take control of their wild imaginations. Their hands collided as they both reached for the almost empty firewhisky bottle, and they jumped from the contact. Awkwardly laughing it off, Harry drank a good sized gulp, and passed it to Draco, who did the same.

By now, Harry was a little more drunk than it was polite to be in public and he was having problems forming coherent sentences. Draco suggested,

"Maybe we should call it a night."

"I guess."

"Do you want me to take you home?"

"Don' wan' go home. She's there."

"Who? Oh..Ginny. Why don't you go stay at Ron's? You guys are still friends right?"

"Don' wan' go there either. They'll jus' ass me more shtuff about G-G..nng..Her.."

"Do you have anywhere else to go?"

"No, nowhere I actually wan' go."

"I have extra rooms, you can crash at my place if you want."

"Really? That's awful generous of you, Malfoy."

"Let's get out of here then."

Draco slid out of the booth, only a little unsteady on his feet. He turned to help Harry, who was currently fighting gravity. Slinging Harry's arm over his shoulder, Draco supported him out into the alley behind the pub. He drew his wand out and Apparated them both directly into his flat. Wincing a bit at the change in light, Harry looked around the bedroom they were in. Draco quickly walked him over to the bed and helped him get in. He started heading to the door to go to his kitchen, and he heard Harry speak from the bed.

"When did your face get so pretty?"

Turning back, Draco groaned inwardly at the look Harry was giving him. ~Why did I go up to him at the pub? I should have just kept going, God Draco, you just can't resist a –good-looking face, can you?~ His thoughts started to get more inappropriate the longer Harry stared. To distract himself, he looked down, and right at Harry's mouth, which was moist and hanging slightly open. Bad idea. ~Shit, Draco think of something else.~

"I'm going to go grab you a glass of water and a hangover potion."

He got out of there as quickly as possible and went down the hall to the kitchen. Taking a moment to clear his thoughts, Draco grabbed a glass and one of the vials of potion he kept stocked in his cupboard.

Making his way back to the guest bedroom, He prepared himself to deal with his attraction to Harry, which was surprisingly strong. Opening the door, he started to say something, but Harry was asleep on the bed. Smiling, he went over to the bed, sat the glass and vial on the table, and pulled Harry's shoes off. He then pulled the covers from under Harry, slid him under them, and covered him up. With a quick wave of his wand, he extinguished all the lights in the room and headed down the hall seeking his own bed.

Once he was in his room, he went straight into the bathroom to take a relaxing shower to help release his tense muscles. ~Wow, today turned out a lot different than usual.~ Draco chuckled. ~I've got an attractive man in my flat again, and tonight was the most fun I've had in a long time. Hopefully, we can do it again sometime.~ Draco was smiling again as he stepped out of the shower, dried himself off, and slipped into bed naked.

Harry was in a foreign bed and there was someone laying next to him. He turned over, expecting to see Ginny, but instead he came face to face with Draco Malfoy. Malfoy wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, sliding his body so they lined up hip to hip. Harry pressed his lips to Malfoy's and stroked his hair, such fine blonde hair. Malfoy slid his arms down Harry's naked back to cup his butt and pull him even closer. The blonde hair started to shine brighter and brighter. Too bright.

Harry woke up to sunlight streaming into a bedroom he vaguely recognized, and he was very aroused. Breathing a little hard, he tried to turn his thoughts in a different direction. Turning over he was slammed with the hangover, and he fumbled with the water and vial on the bedside table, and gulped down both as he smelled the familiar scent of the potion. Thinking back to what he had been dreaming about, he flushed at the major part Draco had played in it. He replayed the events of the night before in his mind, and found that he was fine with what had happened. Feeling his throbbing headache and the nasty taste in his mouth start to go away, Harry decided to go explore the flat.

As soon as he opened the bedroom door, the smell of breakfast being cooked enticed him to go down the hall. Walking into an ornate kitchen, he found one very busy Draco, working on making eggs, sausage, toast, and even slicing up some fruit. It took a moment for Draco to notice he was standing there.

"Oh hello, did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did, you can cook?

"Yes, I've always loved to."

"It looks great. Umm…Is there any way I can get a shower and maybe borrow a pair of sweats or something?"

"Of course, let me just go and grab a couple things and you can use my shower. It's much bigger and nicer than the one in the guest room you slept in."

"Thanks, I know I probably don't look too great right now."

~Oh you look absolutely delectable right now.~ thought Draco as he gestured for Harry to follow him to his bedroom. He did indeed find Harry some sweats along with a gray t-shirt. After showing Harry how to use the shower and where the towels were, Draco headed back to the kitchen to wait for him to get done. ~I wonder how Potter would react if I got into the shower with him?~ He was still pondering that situation when Harry walked back into the kitchen, only wearing the sweats and toweling his hair. Draco's pulse jumped at the sight of Harry's chest, inky hair over compact muscles, tapering down his belly, and disappearing into the sweats slung low on his hips. He could feel his body react to this display, and wasn't able to move from where he had frozen in place. Barely managing to tear his eyes away, Draco studiously focused on his cooking, while Harry set down the towel and drew the shirt over his head. Gesturing towards Draco with the towel, Harry stated,

"I don't know where you want me to put this."

"It's fine, just lay it on one of the chairs and I'll get it later."

"Do you need any help with anything?"

"No, I'll be done in just a moment. Go ahead and take a seat, and I'll bring you over a plate."

"Harry chose a seat with a good view of Draco, who was focused on the eggs he was making. Draco didn't seem to notice his inspection of him, so he was free to look his fill. Starting down at his bare feet, working up shapely calves, muscular thighs, and a firm butt Harry enjoyed what he saw. Not able to stop looking, he watched the play of muscles beneath Draco's thin t-shirt. When he finally reached Draco's head, he noticed the white blonde hair hastily pulled up into a ponytail, some of the strands falling out to hang around his face. Suddenly, Draco turned to look at Harry with those blue-gray eyes, the tension crackled to life between the two men, and Harry quickly stood and said,

"Maybe I should go."

"Alright, here's my number, call me anytime."

Harry took the paper Draco was holding out to him, looked him in the eyes again, started to say something, but then decided not to and left. The feelings that went through Draco at that moment were surprising. He hadn't wanted Harry to leave, but wasn't quite sure how he felt about that yet. ~He has Ginny to go back to, he doesn't need me.~ He fixed a plate of the food he had been fixing for the both of them, and sat down at the table with a book. Thoughts of Harry kept distracting him from the potions he was trying to read about. Picking his wand up from the table, he swept it over the dishes and they went flying into the sink. Giving up on the book, he started thinking about what had passed between him and Harry before he had left. ~What if he does want me? He's not said anything, except the comment he made last night. He gives every sign of being attracted to me, especially the way he's been looking at me.~ With a sigh he began to daydream. In his imagination the whole breakfast fiasco went down very differently. Already knowing how his musings would end up, he went to his room to lay down.

Draco was thinking of how Harry had looked when he had come back into the kitchen from the shower, without a shirt. Oh. He had just about lost his mind staring at the muscles covered in a layer of black hair that tapered to below his waistline. And the way that Harry had been staring at him was enough to make his blood surge. Draco felt his body reacting to what he was thinking about, and he slipped a hand down to relieve the tension that had been building since he had sat down at the table with Harry last night. Thinking of the way Harry had looked when Draco had gotten him into the bed made him increase the tempo of his movements. He came quickly, with a groan, feeling only partially sated. Muttering a quick spell to clean himself up, Draco decided to take a nap and not think about Harry for a while.

After leaving Draco's, Harry headed to number twelve Grimmauld Place to check up on the house. Upon entering the house, he went straight to the room he had claimed for himself and grabbed a set of clothes he kept there. He couldn't seem to stop thinking about what had passed between him and Draco. Last night, he could blame on the alcohol and his emotions being high from his fight with Ginny. This morning however, was a completely different story, seeing as he had been clear headed and still reacting to Draco's effect on him. ~Am I attracted to him? Is he attracted to me? Do I like the idea of him being attracted to me?~ Still thinking about Draco, he went on to his training classes at the Ministry, and decided to worry about it later.

Later on that night, after a long day of training, Harry went to his and Ginny's flat. As soon as he walked in the door, he saw that all of his things had been packed into boxes and placed by the door. Throwing what he had been holding into the floor, he shouted into the flat,

"Ginny, where the bloody hell are you?!"

"In the kitchen!"

"What is the meaning of all of this?"

Walking into the front room, Ginny shouted,

"Well I didn't see us working out anytime soon, so it's time for you to move out!"

"You just fucking decided that we weren't going to be able to fix this?!"

"You were the one who didn't come home last night! And when I called Ron to see if you were there, they told me that you hadn't been there since around ten last night."

"And that warrants you kicking me out?!"

"You obviously stayed somewhere, and didn't care enough to worry about me while you were with whoever you were fucking last night."

"I do have a house I own, or were you too blinded by the rage at whoever I was supposedly screwing around with, that you didn't think of that?"

"I'm tired of all the bloody pretenses, Harry. You clearly don't want me anymore."

"What in the hell makes you think that?"

"We're only still together because we were so used to it. There's no feelings left in our relationship anymore."

"Fine, if that's the way you want it, I'll leave."

With that said, Harry waved his wand over all of the boxes and they disappeared, the impressions of where they had sat still in the carpet. Taking one last look into the now empty front room, he closed the door behind him. He Apparated directly in front of number 12 Grimmauld Place, and slowly made his way to the door. Harry was feeling vaguely lost as he walked into his house. His life had changed dramatically, and he was single for the first time in over three years. Looking around in the gloomy hallway that greeted him as he walked in, he wasn't sure how he was going to be able to handle moving into this house alone. There were rooms upon rooms here, some of which Harry had never even stepped foot in. Heading up the stairs to his bedroom, he took in the state of the house, There was so much he was going to have to do in order to get this house to be suitable living environment again. Entering his room, he found the boxes exactly where he had sent them from Ginny's flat.

Taking out his wand, Harry swept it in a fluid motion, while saying a variation of the clean up spell Draco had used earlier. It siphoned all the dust from the surfaces of the room and made it disappear. He then started unpacking, feeling more and more depressed as he went. Harry wasn't upset over his split with Ginny, rather he wasn't as upset as he thought he should be. He felt happier than he had a right to be, and was ashamed of the fact.

Finding himself sitting in the floor surrounded by reminders of Ginny, he decided to go out. He needed to get away from the thoughts he was currently entertaining, seeing as they were only serving to make him feel worse. Settling on going flying to get his mind off things, he grabbed his jacket and broomstick. Harry tapped himself on the head with his wand, feeling the familiar sensation of having an egg dropped on his head, as he cast the Disllusionment Charm on himself and the Firebolt. Running into the cool night air outside, He took off and shot straight up into the sky. Exhilarated to feel the wind on his face and being alone with the sky for a while, he flew until he saw the first rays of sunlight appear on the horizon. 


End file.
